High-voltage insulator.



F. M. LOCKE.

HIGH VOLTAGE INSULATOR. APPLICATION FILED II;B 26, 1907.

998,359, Patented July 18,1911.

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I'. M. LOCKE.

HIGH VOLTAGE INSULATOR.

APPLICATION FILED Emme, 1907.

Patented July 18, 1911.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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50 ing area for static discharges and leakages UNITED sTATEs PATENT OFFICE.

FRED M. LOCKE, F VICTOR; NEW.YYORK, ASSIGNOR T0 TH LOCKE-INSULATOR MANU- IFA I1TURING COMPANY, OF VICTOR,`NEW YORK, A CORPORATIONWOF NEW YORK.

HIGH-VOLTAGE INSULATR.

Specification of Letterslatent.

Patented July 18, 1911.

, w Application leii February 26, 1907. Serial No. V359,411.2.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRED M. Looms, of Victor, in the county of Ontario, in the State of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements in High-Voltage Insulators, of which the' following, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, is

a full, clear, and exact description.l i

This invention relates to an improved system of insulation forfhigh .voltage electric conductors in which a series of separate insulators are linked together suitable distances apart, in series, between the electric conductor and main support so that the number of insulators may bejreadily increased or diminished according to the voltage of the current carried bythe conductor. In other words, 'I have sought to combine a number of insulators in such manner as to safely carryfa conductor for extremely high voltage Acurrents whereby I am enabled to use insulators of smaller and cheaper grades 4 without liability of static discharges or leakages passing from the conductor to the cross arm or other main support.

Another object 1s to provide means for protecting the insulators against accumula- 'tions ofniolsture, thereby obviating 1n a measure stat-ic discharges and leakages over the surfaces of the insulators.

Other objects and uses will appear in the following description;`d r

In the drawings-Figures 1, 2, 3 and 4 are elevations, partlyin section, of modified systems of insulation embodying the features of my invent-ion. `litiga 5 is a sectional i lView taken on line 5 5, Fig.A 1.

It 4is well known that the extremely large insulators which are now' manufactured t0 carry high potential electric conductors are very dificult and expensiveto manufacture by reason tof their size and difficult of testing their insulating properties, and that owingto the fact that the surface area necessarily increases materially with the size of the insulator it cannot be well protected from the element-s, and therefore,l exposess this large area to moisture, such as rain and snow, which unavoidably accumulates thereon, thereby alfording more or lessA conductof the current from the feed Wire to the inf sulator support, so that it may be safely said that the liability of such static discharges increases with the area of the insulator, thereby reducing materially the insulating efliciency of the extremely large insulators out of proportion to theiljsimze. It is also well known that the size as well as the eliiciency of these large insulators has now practically reached its limit, while the voltage carried by conductors which are adapted to be supported by insulators is gradually increasing at the same time it becomes necessary to conserve such energy by providing some means for properly insulating the high potential conductors at their supports. I have found by actual experiment. that insulator supports maybe effectively protected against such high `voltage currents by providing a chain or series of comparatively small insulators linked together between the In Fig. l I have shown a series of tubular insulators -1- each made up of a plurality of cylindrical tubes of different lengths, arranged one within the other, and spaced apart by intervening fillers -2- of cement or other insulating `material disposed sub- .stantially midway between the ends of the tubes, and serving not only to hold these tubes in fixed relation to each other, but also to form intervening air spaces between the ends of the tubes, thereby increasing the insulating efficiency of each separate insulator by increasing the arcing distance bctween the ends of the telesc'oping tubes. These insulators may be suspended 'from any suitable support, as a cross-arm -3-, thel first insulator of the series nearest the cross-arni'being.` carried by a metal clamp -4- which is rigidly secured to the crossarm n -3- and is ttcd in an annular seat ,5- in the periphery of the outer tubular y assess section of the insulator -1- midway between its ends or in transverse Valinement with the annular fillings 2- where the insulator has the 'greatest mechanical strength. v

A metal bar -6- is passed ,centrally Y through the inner tube of the first insulator nearest the support -3-, and its opposite ends are provided with pendant arms -7- some distance from thevopposite ends of the insulator, and converge toward each other some distance under the irst insulator where the converging ends are united to a second annular clamp -8-, which like the clamp -4 is fitted in the annular seat -5-- ofV thev second insulator 1- midway between the ends of said insulator.

is passed centrally through the inner tube in the same manner as in the first insulator of the series, and its opposite ends are provided with pendant arms -.-7- converging some distance beneath the second insulator of the series is suspended by the hanger 4- directly from the support -3-; that the second insulator is suspended from the lirst one ofkthe series by theI bar -6-, hanger-arm 7 and clamp -8-, and that the third insulator of the series is supported from the second one by av similarbar -6-, hanger-arm -7 and clamp -8-,

if while the electric conductor or wire 1Q- is suspended from the last or lower insulator of the series bythe lengthwise rod -6- and hanger-arms Q9-, considerable space being left between the several insulators of the series to prevent arcing of the current from one to the other. It is also clear that the Ynumber of insulators may be wmultiplied indefinitely, each one adding a definite resistance to the transmission of current from the feed-wire to the main support, as T3-, and therefore, I am enabled to transmit safely a current of the highest voltage through the Ifeed-wire -10- without liability 'of static charges or leakages being transmitted to the main support. Another advantage of vthis system of insulation is that by attaching the wire to the lower one of the series a limited flexing action of the entire chain is ailorded between the rigid support -3- and wire to compensate for unequal expansion and contraction ofthe portions of the wires between the several insulators which carry the wire.

This second inf sulator also carrles a metal bar -6- which` In the construction seen in Fig. 2, I have showna series of insulators 1 similar `to those seen in Fig. 1, but instead of eX- tending the hanger rodsentirely through the inner tube, I employ U-shape hangers the center tube of its corresponding insulator and its other arm provided with an annular clamp -12- which encircles the central portion of the'underlying insulator,

the lirst insulator of the series nearest the cross-arm -3- being substantially the same as that shown in Fig. 1. The anchor l arms -11- shown in Fig. 2, of successive insulators project from oppositeendsl thereof the lower hanger-arm being provided with a suitable wire clamp -13-g otherwise the device is quite similar to that shown in Fig. 1.

In order to protect th'e insulators from accumulations of moisture, -such as rain and snow, I cover the first one of the series with a suitable sheet metal hoodf-lllof suiicient diameter to protect the entire series, but in Fig. 2 I have shown yeach sepas rate Iinsulator as covered by a similar hood or shield lll- In Fig. 3 I have shown a system of insulators "-15- as suspended from a suitable support -3-, the first one of the series being heldin place by a clamp 4ll similar to that shown in Figs. 1 and 2, while the remaining insulators are suspended from the one above it by hangers ,-11- similar to those shown in Fig. 2, the only difference between this construction and that shown in Fig. 2, being that the insulators'are made up of' a series of bell-shape sections nested one within the other, but in each of l`these three forms of chain,insulators just. described, each insulator is held place by a clamp attached thereto substantially midway between its ends although the clamps in Fig. 3 are disposed nearer thesmaller ends of the insulators, each insulator being protected from the Iother by a superposed 14- seen in Figs. 1 and Q In Fig. 4 I have shown a series of bellshape insulators -17-, as carried by a suitable support -3- and hangers -18- and 19-, the hanger 1S-'- being secured ldirectly to the support 3 and is provided at its lower end with an obliquely inclined clamp 20e secured to the head of the upper insulator -17-. Each ofthese hangers -18- is centrally secured inthe superposed insulator -17- and has its lower end provided with an oblique or inclined clamp -20 which is secured to the head of the next underlyingnsulator so that each insulator is disposed obliquely, successive insulators being inclined in opposite directions, each insulator supporting the next one\ `mounted as describedin the several modinumber of insulators anchors 1Q-'while the lower insulator supports a central hanger -21- having a` suitable clamp for the feed wire 10-.

It will be seen from the .foregoing description that in all of these modifications `a series of insulators are suspended between Ithe main support and feed wire, and that the number of insulators may be .varied at probability of puncturing the nested in sulators suiiicient tocarry'the full force of the current to the cross arm.

In the use of insulators arranged and iications, if the last insulator of the series nearest the electric conductor "should, be

broken it would have to arc from this inf sulator over to the nest, and so on through the several insulators of the series, the liability .of puncture or disintegration by static discharges or leakage of the current becomes'less, and if it is found that the Voltage is too high for the insulator the number of insulators may be'increased.

What I claim is:

1. An insulator for high voltage electric conductors comprising, a series of insulators 40 arranged in sequence, separate metal hangers, each securedto the center of one insulator and passing around the edge thereof and secured to the next vadjacent insulator of the series.

2. An insulator for high voltage electric Iconductors comprising, a series of insulators arranged in sequence some distance apart and each composed of sections nested together one within the other, the center section having a. socket, connections between said insulators holding them a fixed distance apart, each of Said connections extending.,

around one edge of one insulator having a portion thereof entering the socket of said insulator and another portion embracing the periphery of the outer section of the adjacent insulator, a support and connections between the support and first insulator ofv the series. p

3. In an insulatorfor high voltage electric conductorst-he combination with a plurality of insulating` units each open at one end arfranged with their open ends extending in opposite directions, of bent hangers leading from the center of one unit and embracing the exterior of the adjacent`unit.

4. In'an insulator for high Voltage electric conductors, the combination with a plurality of cup-shaped units open' at one end and disposed one beneath the other with their open ends projecting in op osite directions,v of U shaped hangers lea ing from the center of one unit and embracing the adjacent unit.

`In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 19th day of February 1907. FRED M.`LOCKE.

Witnesses: y Y

M. W. BURKE, yGrao. W. A'rwELL.- 

